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A Question of Access: Women and Food Security

Elizabeth Stites

in Land of the Unconquerable: The Lives of Contemporary Afghan Women

This chapter addresses Afghanistan's history of food security and how it changed after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Food security is built on three main aspects—food availability, food access, ... More

This chapter addresses Afghanistan's history of food security and how it changed after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Food security is built on three main aspects—food availability, food access, and food utilization. The rural economy and agrarian sector in Afghanistan are relatively resilient, even in the face of conflict and drought. However, this does not mean that all people have adequate food or can be classified as food-secure. Afghan households are spending high amounts on food. Although food prices dropped in 2009, allowing Afghan households to have an easier time putting food on their tables, food insecurity still affects many households. The chapter then considers the links between insecurity and access to food. Female-headed households are often the most food insecure, and one can posit that their access to markets or to credit is even more constrained in Taliban-held areas than in other parts of the country.Less

Making Groceries: Food, Neighborhood Markets, and Neighborhood Recovery in Post-Katrina New Orleans

Jeffrey Schwartz

in Culture after the Hurricanes: Rhetoric and Reinvention on the Gulf Coast

This chapter focuses on how the grocery industry has managed so far in post-Katrina New Orleans. It begins with the publication on yahoo.com on August 30, 2005, of two photographs showing people ... More

This chapter focuses on how the grocery industry has managed so far in post-Katrina New Orleans. It begins with the publication on yahoo.com on August 30, 2005, of two photographs showing people wading through the floodwaters, both carrying groceries. The only difference between them was that one was of a young black man, while the other was of two young white adults. It was the captioning of both photographs, however, that caught the public eye, as the African American man is said to have “looted” from a grocery, whereas the white couple merely “found” their bread and soda in the same store, the Circle Food Store — a store that has yet to reopen three years after the storm. This whole episode raises questions that are specific to New Orleans, but have much wider implications about the relationship of food access to urban development. This chapter thus explores the political, social, and economic significance of the number of neighborhood markets that were created in New Orleans as a response to Hurricane Katrina.Less

Who gets to decide what’s in my fridge? Principles for transforming the ‘invisible rules’ shaping the regulation of food habits in urban spaces

Naomi Millner, Sue Cohen, Tim Cole, Kitty Webster, Heidi Andrews, Makala Cheung, Penny Evans, and Annie Oliver

in Imagining Regulation Differently: Co-creating for Engagement

This chapter focuses on the forms of regulation that shape food habits in ways that we are often unaware of. Here, the chapter presents some of the results of a co-produced research project that ... More

This chapter focuses on the forms of regulation that shape food habits in ways that we are often unaware of. Here, the chapter presents some of the results of a co-produced research project that explored how people experience the regulation of food habits in their communities. It explores the notion of food justice, which seeks to embed discussion of food regulation in attention to the spatial dimensions of food access. The chapter points to the ways in which the project sought to make visible invisible rules and to develop processes of ‘commoning’ in order to address the spatial inequalities of urban food spaces. It then challenges notions of ‘cheapness’ and instead present ideas of food affordability. Finally, this chapter establishes the building blocks for a ‘more-than-food policy’ by demonstrating the importance of working with assets rather than deficits.Less

Introduction: Black Food, Black Space, Black Agency

Ashanté M. Reese

in Black Food Geographies: Race, Self-Reliance, and Food Access in Washington, D.C.

This chapter reviews the literature on racism in the food system and demonstrates how theories of anti-blackness help to further frame contemporary food access inequities in cities. Building on ... More

This chapter reviews the literature on racism in the food system and demonstrates how theories of anti-blackness help to further frame contemporary food access inequities in cities. Building on literature from scholars who have framed self-reliance in the Black experience, the chapter also outlines “geographies of self-reliance,” a framework for understanding how self-reliance is not simply ideological but also becomes a spatial mechanism. Lastly, the chapter offers “quiet food refusals”—the types of food work and decisions being made outside the public gaze—to make a case for paying attention to the everyday ways Black residents are navigating the unequal food system.Less

The Price of Deregulation: Food Access and Living Standards

Gergely Baics

in Feeding Gotham: The Political Economy and Geography of Food in New York, 1790-1860

This chapter aims to write food access in an unregulated environment back into our understanding of mid-nineteenth-century urban living standards. Fieldwork and social geography were the approaches ... More

This chapter aims to write food access in an unregulated environment back into our understanding of mid-nineteenth-century urban living standards. Fieldwork and social geography were the approaches pursued by public health experts. The method here is to exploit new resources with digital mapping. The central question is how did food access shape living standards in a metropolis experiencing rapid growth, rising inequalities, and intensifying segregation? Further, how did unequal access to provisions map onto the more familiar inequalities of housing, sanitation, and disease conditions? The subject is complex, and at each intersection, from issues of quantity to distribution and quality, the historical record is patchy. But posing a new set of questions and proposing new answers is a step in the right direction.Less

Growing in the City: From Community Gardening to Urban Agriculture

Lindsay K. Campbell

in City of Forests, City of Farms: Sustainability Planning for New York City's Nature

Chapter five traces the network of actors and storylines involved in creating, advocating for (or resisting), and maintaining urban agriculture in New York City. First, it describes a brief history ... More

Chapter five traces the network of actors and storylines involved in creating, advocating for (or resisting), and maintaining urban agriculture in New York City. First, it describes a brief history of community gardening as a social movement in New York City since the 1970s. Then, it explores the vibrant material practices and varied narratives employed by a newer wave of civic practitioners engaging in urban agriculture from the 2000s to the present. The chapter parses this more recent trend into its various threads, which range from a focus on local food production, to commitments to food justice, to an interest in neighborhood stabilization and youth empowerment.Less

Access to Adequate Nutritious Food: New Indicators to Track Progress and Inform Action

Anna Herforth

in The Fight Against Hunger and Malnutrition: The Role of Food, Agriculture, and Targeted Policies

New indicators are needed for global monitoring of access to and consumption of adequate nutritious food. These indicators would fill a basic information gap necessary to understand the causes of ... More

New indicators are needed for global monitoring of access to and consumption of adequate nutritious food. These indicators would fill a basic information gap necessary to understand the causes of malnutrition, and to inform policy options to support food security and nutrition. Globally collected indicators of food security have remained virtually unchanged since the 1960s, largely derived from the single indicator of national-level dietary energy supply. This simple and unidimensional characterization of “food” was a guidepost toward pressing needs 50 years ago, but it is no longer adequate for the nutritional realities of today’s food systems, or the worldwide distribution of nutritional problems. Suggestions are made for how new indicators of food access and dietary quality can be mainstreamed in the nutrition and agriculture data sets and parlance, to shift the generalized construction of “food” from one of caloric adequacy to one of nutritious food to meet dietary needs.Less

Withdraw the Bungling Hand of Government: Free-Market Geography of Provisioning

Gergely Baics

in Feeding Gotham: The Political Economy and Geography of Food in New York, 1790-1860

This chapter examines the geography of food access under the new free-market regime. It maps the retail food economy in relation to the city's land-use environment and broader commercial geography, ... More

This chapter examines the geography of food access under the new free-market regime. It maps the retail food economy in relation to the city's land-use environment and broader commercial geography, while also situating food access within its local neighborhood context. In general, the analysis reveals the development of a novel, highly fragmented, and differentiated provisioning landscape, whereby residential location increasingly defined one's options of food access. At the end, the narrative returns to Catharine Market in the mid-nineteenth century, finding the public market's status as the economic, social, and cultural hub of its area compromised by the emerging retail corridor of Catharine Street as the new center of consumption and public space in the neighborhood.Less

Introduction

Gergely Baics

in Feeding Gotham: The Political Economy and Geography of Food in New York, 1790-1860

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book's main themes. This book tells story of New York's transition from a tightly regulated public market system of provisioning in the Early ... More

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the book's main themes. This book tells story of New York's transition from a tightly regulated public market system of provisioning in the Early Republic to a free-market model in the antebellum period. It examines what a municipal market system was and how it worked to supply urban dwellers; how and why access to food moved from the public to the private domain by the 1840s; how these two distinctive political economies shaped the physical and social environments of a booming city; and what the social consequences of deregulation were for residents of America's first metropolis. On the whole, the book offers a comprehensive account based in political economy and the social and geographic history of the complex interplay of urban governance, market forces, and the built environment in provisioning New Yorkers.Less

Dying to Dine—The Story of the Great Agricultural Barrier

Srividhya Ragavan

in Patent and Trade Disparities in Developing Countries

This chapter studies the second major issue that affects mankind, namely access to food. It outlines the barriers to trade and the tenets of the trade regime, and identifies subsidies as the worst ... More

This chapter studies the second major issue that affects mankind, namely access to food. It outlines the barriers to trade and the tenets of the trade regime, and identifies subsidies as the worst barrier to international trade in agricultural commodities. It shows that international trade barriers affect the agricultural commodities market, and introduces the Agreement on Agriculture (AOA), which helped decrease disputes over agricultural subsidies over a period of nine years.Less

The Landscape of Municipal Food Access

Gergely Baics

in Feeding Gotham: The Political Economy and Geography of Food in New York, 1790-1860

Chapter 1 argued that that the justification for the municipal market system was to sustain the public good of citizens' access to food. This chapter focuses on the extent to which the corresponding ... More

Chapter 1 argued that that the justification for the municipal market system was to sustain the public good of citizens' access to food. This chapter focuses on the extent to which the corresponding market infrastructure succeeded in fulfilling this political mandate. The analysis therefore shifts the discussion from the realm of political economy to evaluating the public markets' performance on the ground. In evaluating the public market system, the chapter pursues supply side and spatial analyses. Did New Yorkers gain access to adequate quantities of food supplies? Were all neighborhoods well provisioned, or were some areas unfairly burdened by too taxing a distance? And did the model muster effective means to sustain food quality? At the center of the inquiry is the geographic mandate of the public market system, which determined its success in meeting socially agreed-upon and politically mediated provisioning standards.Less

Is Access to Food a Public Good?: From Public Market to Free-Market System, 1790–1860

Gergely Baics

in Feeding Gotham: The Political Economy and Geography of Food in New York, 1790-1860

This chapter provides a new account of the political economy of the public market system of provisioning, exploring how the common good of citizens' access to food was forged out of the conflicting ... More

This chapter provides a new account of the political economy of the public market system of provisioning, exploring how the common good of citizens' access to food was forged out of the conflicting and converging interests, rights, and responsibilities of the three constituent parties involved: residents, market vendors, and city officials. It then discusses the process of market deregulation, exploring how and why citizens' access to food was gradually pushed from the public to the private domain through the expansion of informal retail from the 1830s, followed by the market laws' repeal in 1843. Further, it details the shifting ground of public and private goods, outlining the fiscal connections between the liberalization of New York's formerly tightly regulated food economy and the city's huge investments in the Croton Waterworks.Less

Constraints of Time: Public Market Schedule of Provisioning

Gergely Baics

in Feeding Gotham: The Political Economy and Geography of Food in New York, 1790-1860

This chapter addresses the problem of time by examining the temporal geography of household provisioning. It scrutinizes the seasonal, weekly, and daily schedules of food shopping, outlining how ... More

This chapter addresses the problem of time by examining the temporal geography of household provisioning. It scrutinizes the seasonal, weekly, and daily schedules of food shopping, outlining how complementary rhythms provided steady supplies to customers, while also sustaining permanent and stable trade at the public markets. The provisioning journey was structured not only by the distance one traveled to the public market but also by the conjunctures of time. Just as public markets distributed all varieties of foodstuffs to New Yorkers at a dozen privileged locations, their year-round business agglomerated food supplies of widely different seasonal cycles. Not surprisingly, seasonality first and foremost determined the frequency of residents' marketing visits.Less

Conclusion

Gergely Baics

in Feeding Gotham: The Political Economy and Geography of Food in New York, 1790-1860

This concluding chapter summarizes key themes. This book documents the profound consequences that the deregulation of food markets had on the built environment of the city, and the daily lives and ... More

This concluding chapter summarizes key themes. This book documents the profound consequences that the deregulation of food markets had on the built environment of the city, and the daily lives and living standards of its residents. Specifically, it outlines the complex interplay of political economy, urban geography, and the material conditions and social inequalities of New Yorkers. With the dissolution and formal repeal of traditionally tightly controlling market laws, the full power of free-market forces was unleashed to restructure the geography and daily routine of provisioning. The lack of government oversight across the entire provisioning chain allowed, even accelerated, the fragmentation and polarization of residents' food access. A wholly new geography emerged, whereby residential location determined one's options of food access, corresponding to each neighborhood's class and ethnic divisions of space.Less

Eastern Market Corporation

Dan Carmody

in Why Detroit Matters: Decline, Renewal and Hope in a Divided City

Dan Carmody is President of Detroit’s Eastern Market Corporation. In this interview chapter, he discusses the history of the market and why it is important to food access in the city of Detroit ... More

Dan Carmody is President of Detroit’s Eastern Market Corporation. In this interview chapter, he discusses the history of the market and why it is important to food access in the city of Detroit today. He explains the visions and aims of the Eastern Market Corporation and how and why it came into existence. The corporation, a not-for-profit, public-private partnership, started in 2006. Carmody discusses the role of urban agriculture in Detroit as well as the new wave of gentrification which has the potential to significantly impact the Market in the future.Less

Catharine Market and Its Neighborhood

Gergely Baics

in Feeding Gotham: The Political Economy and Geography of Food in New York, 1790-1860

This chapter examines the neighborhood setting, which provided the immediate economic, social, and cultural contexts of the public markets. Through a case study of Catharine Market, it documents the ... More

This chapter examines the neighborhood setting, which provided the immediate economic, social, and cultural contexts of the public markets. Through a case study of Catharine Market, it documents the piecemeal process by which the neighborhood marketplace was assembled, along with the consolidation of its economic agglomeration, internal social and spatial order, everyday functioning, formal and informal management, and daily relations to customers. By the early nineteenth century, Catharine Market served as one of Gotham's largest and most thriving food emporia. It functioned as the regular meeting point for diverse participants in the provisions trade: neighborhood food vendors, including butchers, hucksters, and peddlers; Long Island and other New York region farmers; fishermen harvesting the city's plentiful coastal and inland waterways; and, of course, the area's booming and diverse population of merchants, artisans, and laborers shopping daily at this marketplace.Less

Can Transfer Programs Be Made More Nutrition Sensitive?

Harold Alderman

in The Fight Against Hunger and Malnutrition: The Role of Food, Agriculture, and Targeted Policies

As is commonly presented, nutritional status reflects the interplay of food consumption, access to health and sanitation, and nutrition knowledge and care practices. Social protection programs ... More

As is commonly presented, nutritional status reflects the interplay of food consumption, access to health and sanitation, and nutrition knowledge and care practices. Social protection programs typically increase income (linked to food access), as well as influence the timing and, to a degree, the control of this income. Additionally, such safety net programs may achieve further impact on nutrition by fostering linkages with health services or with sanitation programs, and specifically, through activities that are related to nutrition education or micronutrient supplementation. This chapter looks at what might be the expected from such programs and reviews some of the evidence from specific transfer programs.Less

1946

Arsenii Formakov

Emily D. Johnson (ed.)

in Gulag Letters

The letters that Formakov sent home in 1946 describe his contributions to cultural work in camp and his return to indoor work assignments. In this year he worked in a needle-making workshop, where he ... More

The letters that Formakov sent home in 1946 describe his contributions to cultural work in camp and his return to indoor work assignments. In this year he worked in a needle-making workshop, where he had also been delegated in 1944-1945; he later went on to serve as a bread-cutter and a norm-setter. He also toured for a time with Kraslag’s Central Cultural Brigade, giving shows in other camp outposts and area collective farms. Such privileged assignments were hard to secure. They gave inmates better access to food and significantly increased their chances of survival. At various points in the correspondence, Formakov discusses his efforts to remain in favor with the camp authorities.Less